Boston Celtics push past Golden State Warriors in third final

Despite leading for almost the entire game, the Celtics were denied an easy win by the visitors.

The Boston Celtics slipped past the Golden State warriors to take a 2-1 lead in the third game of the NBA Finals series (Steven Senne/AP) (AP)

The Boston Celtics slipped past the Golden State Warriors to take a 2-1 lead in the third game of the NBA Finals series.

Despite leading for almost the entire game, the Celtics were denied an easy win by the visitors.

The Warriors, meanwhile, were unable to carry enough of the momentum from their accomplishment of levelling to 1-1 in the second final to snatch the third.

A nine-point Warrior run in the first quarter brought them one point behind, but the Celtics dominated for rest of the first half and went into the break with a 12-point lead at 56-68.

They took the lead briefly in the third quarter at 83-82, but were quickly beaten back again for a final score of 100-116.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points, while Jaylen Brown top-scored for the Celtics with 27.